History of the American Revolution discussion
Best Historian of the American Revolution
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I am a fan of Richard Ketchum's books.
I havn't read anything by Katchum. What has he done?
Ketchum is a history writer who specializes in the American Revolution. I think he used to be a writer or editor at American Heritage magazine, but I couldn't confirm that. Much like Stephen Sears is doing with the Eastern theater of the Civil War, he has been writing books on the American Revolution battle by battle. I have read his books on Saratoga and Bunker Hill, and I though they were pretty good.Here's a link to an amazon.com list of his books, including Yorktown, Divided Loyalties (on the American Revolution in New York City), and Winter Soldiers (about Valley Forge, Trenton, and Princeton).
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/sea...
I have to give a shout out to Gary Nash. He is a wonderful writer of this time period. Here is just a small list of the better historians of the American Revolution that I can think of:Gordon Wood
Gary Nash
Joyce Appleby
Joseph Ellis
Carol Berkin
Laurel Ulrich
Robert Middlekauff
I also enjoyed the short version of James T. Flexner's book on Washington and Ron Chernow's book on Alexander Hamilton.Also, Don Higginbotham is a good author on the Revolution. I enjoyed a biography he wrote on Daniel Morgan.
I have a great boook on my To Read shelf with the title George Washington's Generals (but I haven't posted in on Goodreads yet). Can't recall the author or editor, but I'll post it here when I find it.
I very much enjoyed:Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation (Paperback)
by Joseph J. Ellis (Author) "THE MOST succinct version of the story might go like this: On the morning of July 11, 1804, Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton were rowed..." ...fvp
I enjoyed "Founding Brothers" a great deal as well. Have you read his new book, "American Creation?" Most reviews say that it is a repeat of "Founding Brothers" and I tend to agree. I was a little disappointed with the book.
I'm just getting into history, but so far, I have enjoyed the writing of David McCullough, Joseph Ellis, John Ferling, and Paul C. Nagel.
Washington's Crossing. A must read and the best I've read by far. Reads fast too.
I definitely agree with Joseph Ellis and Gordon Wood. I also think that David McCullough deserves a lot of credit because his books read like great fiction. I'll reserve judgment on Ron Chernow until I muster up the energy to get through an enormous book on Alexander Hamilton.
Definitely Joseph Ellis and Richard Ketchum.
Don Higginbotham and Gordon Wood. And beware of Flexner. He intentionally fabricated numerous episodes in his multivolume biography of Washington.
Another one I would say is Harold Giles Unger. His books are interesting to read, although I have yet to complete one.
I agree with Doug. His new book, Empire and Liberty, is superb, which is to say it is up to the standards of his previous books.
Woods, Ellis, and McCullough are all great and I would also agree that Chernow does a good job on Hamilton. However, I feel that he was a little bias in his favor toward Hamilton. But, on the flip side William Hogeland’s book, The Whiskey Rebellion, was ridiculously slanted to make Hamilton look even crazier than some people speculate. Another good author is Peter R. Henriques and his book, Realistic Visionary a Portrait of George Washington.
My vote: Gordon Wood